Monkeypox vaccine sign-ups now available in parts of Maryland

Maryland health officials call for more monkeypox vaccines

Health officials in Montgomery County, Maryland are calling on the federal government to get them more monkeypox vaccines as the state reports 149 cases of the illness. FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald reports.

Some Maryland residents can begin to sign up for Monkeypox vaccines. Supply of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine across the country remains limited and in Maryland, officials announced yesterday that they have only enough doses to vaccinate just 3,202 patients and that and additional supply may not be available until the fall. Today, some counties across the state are beginning to offer ways for residents to sign up for when vaccinations become available.

Based on CDC guidelines, state and local health officials are prioritizing vaccination courses for public health identified close contacts, those with occasional exposure, self-identified partners of cases and affected community members.

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At this time, Montgomery County is providing vaccination to "identified close contacts of known exposures (cases)." Those identified contacts come from the Maryland Department of Health.

As of August 3rd, Montgomery County also launched a site for residents to sign up for the vaccine as it becomes available, however, they will still prioritize shots to those in the affected groups as defined by the CDC.

The Prince Georges County Health Department is only administering the vaccine to patients "who have been identified as close contacts to laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases through contact tracing investigations" or "presumed contacts that know their sex partners were diagnosed in the past 14 days or have had multiple sex partners in the past 14 days in a jurisdiction with known monkeypox cases." If folks meet the eligible criteria, sign-ups can take place here (and as of this writing, appointments for August 3-5 have been fully booked).

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There are currently no sign-ups available for Charles, Frederick, or Calvert counties. Maryland Department of Health has also made available a fact sheet and frequently asked questions with information about human monkeypox. Earlier this week, the CDC released updated guidance on isolation and prevention practices.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there have been 149 cases of monkeypox reported in Maryland.

The sign-up availability comes as local health officials are increasing calls for the federal government to get them more monkeypox vaccines.